“The Rise of Activism” with Author Jeff Gramm

08/07/2018 @ 17:30 - 20:00

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Recent disputes between shareholders and major corporations have made headlines in the past few years. But the struggle between management and those who own stock has been going on for nearly a century. The history of one of capitalism’s longest running tensions between public company directors, managers, and shareholders will be discussed by author, Jeff Gramm, as described in his book, Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism. Jeff will provide an invaluable perspective on what it means to be a public company, including how they work and who is really in control.

Different eras and pivotal boardroom battles from the last century have also caused shareholders and management to collide. Jeff will provide insight into how investors interact with directors and managers, how they think about their target companies, and how they plan to profit.

Jeff Gramm manages a hedge fund at Bandera Partners and teaches value investing as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. His recently published book, Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism was named one of the best books of 2016 by the Financial Times. It has been praised as “a terrific read” by Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times, “a revelation” by the Financial Times, “a grand story” by The Wall Street Journal, and “an engaging and informative book” by The New Yorker. Warren Buffett included Dear Chairman in the Berkshire Hathaway 2018 annual meeting bookstore. Charles Schwab wrote about the book, “It should be required reading for anyone who wants to participate in our great ownership system, as investor or manager.”

Jeff graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Philosphy and an MBA from Columbia Business School.